Just a little rant here...
My co worker has a great pyrenees/german shepherd mix. Her dog sitter backed out at the last minute, so I offered to let Jane stay at our house this week. I had been told that Jane had gone through obedience training, was good with other dogs and was house trained. Well, since she got here late Tuesday night she has peed and pooped on the floor, tried to attack my little dog twice, and does not seem to know or respond to any commands. I am about to lose my mind! I understand things are different for her and she probably misses her family, but I am about out of patience. She spends about half of her day in the backyard when she is home, but of course we got rain and snow on Tuesday so our backyard is a mud pile. When she does go out in the back yard, she whines and tries to rip the screen off our back door(even when it just a few minutes to potty).
When she is in the house, I have been keeping her on leash or confined to the main living areas of the house to reduce the number of accidents.
Ugh, is it Saturday yet?

We are dog sitting my older son's two dogs since last Friday. His rescue loves the laser light, but got too excited the other night and began attacking one of my Old English Sheepdogs who was simply standing around. No more laser at our house, ever.
With five dogs, the ice and snow, our backyard is now a mud pit. I have adapted by taking them out front, on a leash. (I'm on the NNE edge of the Metroplex)

For fun, try training Jane. She may have gone through obedience, but if there is no followup training, it can easily be forgotten. Remember it isn't her fault her owner isn't a great owner. Allow 5 minutes every hour, and you may be surprised.

I would start by treating Jane like a puppy, motivating her with high value treats, and lots of rewards for good behavior. Start her training back at the beginning, teaching her "sit" and "down" and "stay" and "come." Teach her to heel on a lead. And reward her like crazy with praise and treats every time she does something you want.

You might also consider crating her or confining her in some manner when you can't watch her 100%. Set her up for success in the pee and poop department by not giving her the opportunity to soil in your house.

It might take all week to see any improvement, or she might catch on quickly and the rest of your week will be a big relief. And it can't hurt! It will make the dog more controllable, will give the two of you some rapport, and will give her a chance to understand what you expect of her in a positive way.

I foster a lot and what you describe is typical for the first few weeks when a new dog enters our home. The girl is a bit scared and missing her family where their routine and homelife was set. Try going back to the basics like she was a puppy. Restrict her area until she remembers her potty place, try to take her on a walk a couple of times a day, even if it isn't far. Put lots of treats in your pockets and around the house and treat her for every little thing she does right. Get on the floor and gently play with her and tell her she is the Best. Just as you would a young puppy who just moved into your house. She will start to trust, to become used to your family routine. Make everything possitive. It is hard, when your other dogs are all trained, but she is too,, but to a different routine.

Try hard to get into a possitive mind set. Set small goals for her and lavish the love. Goldens respond best to gentle reminders of where to potty, the basic comands. Have her sit for every treat, hug her a lot. She will quickly come around.

Right now she is confused and wants her family. Like a human child, she needs gentle reminders of her manners and a lot of understanding and loving. If you will do this the week will speed by and when the owners come, will find a happy girl who has had a refresher course in her obedience. Use this time wisely and you have the chance to do a really good thing for this wonderful girl.

Thank you for the advice and words of encouragement. I have been doing some obedience work with her and she seems to be responding well to that. I am keeping her on leash when she is in the house so I can keep her close and give her attention. She is an only dog, so she is used to getting all of the attention. Here at my house, she has to share my attention with my other two dogs.
Right now Jane and Remington(my golden) are playing in the muddy backyard. I am going to have to bathe both dogs before they can come in the house, but they are having so much fun I hated to make them stop...lol.

I have two doing the same. With the bit of snow now melted the backyard is a mud pit in places and no way to keep two, almost white goldens out of the mud and the crazy zoomies they are doing. I have pulled the water hose over to the door and each must get hosed off (even though the water is sooo cold) before they can come in. Hope we get some sunshine soon so the yards will dry up.

I am ready for warmer weather to come back. Don't like the cold and we had our small snow which is more than enough. Now ready for warm winds and playtime outdoors. Hate winter.

I think either your coworker was fibbing about Jane's level of potty and obedience training or she really is potty trained but she is just freaked out being somewhere new and that all went out the window. Either way, you are doing a good deed! Good luck!

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